Last month we began a new series Exploring
Metropolitan Charlotte, beginning with the Town of Matthews. This month we will move on to another popular
upscale area of Charlotte: a section of the city called Ballantyne. Ballantyne began only about 30 years ago with
the creation of a large corporate and office park in at the southern border of
the City of Charlotte known as Ballantyne Corporate Park which
was built on what had been a wooded hunting ground. The office complex is now home to over
4,000,000 sq.ft. of Class A office space, and is the headquarters for such
companies as Curtis-Wright, Snyders-Lance, Inc. and ESPN Regional
Television. Wells Fargo Bank also
maintains a major corporate presence in Ballantyne. And as the office park grew, upscale
residential housing developments sprang up around the office complex.
Ballantyne Country Club
is one such residential development, consisting of sprawling custom homes
surrounding a golf course and recreational facilities; but there are many
communities and subdivisions located in the Ballantyne area, from larger custom
homes priced over $1,000,000 to upscale
single family homes at half that price, to condominiums
and townhouses typically priced in the $200,000’s. Shopping and entertainment in the area is
varied and extensive. And public
schools serving Ballantyne residents are some of the
best-performing schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system.
Located
about a 20-minute drive from Charlotte’s “Uptown” city center to the north, Ballantyne
is hardly an isolated area. But it is
largely self-sufficient, and there has been talk from time to time of actually
seceding from the City of Charlotte to establish more control of things like
local schools, continuing development and budgets for public services. The rapid pace of Ballantyne’s growth is not
without complications, as roads and highways are frequently overcrowded and
roadway construction and expansion are an ongoing process.
For
those who work in or near Ballantyne Corporate Park, the Ballantyne area offers
an extensive variety of convenient housing, much of it having been built after
the mid-1990’s. The area has developed
to a point that is virtually unrecognizable from its early rural roots of only
30 years ago, and it has become one of the most popular, sought-after choices
to make a home and build a future in the Charlotte metropolitan area.
For more information and to search the entire Charlotte area MLS system FREE for homes, townhouses, condominiums-- including foreclosures and short sales-- go to www.EricDorerRealEstate.com.
